Light In The Window
by pleasant-hell
Summary: My take on what happens after "Duets", contains spoilers so if you haven't seen it yet then some parts my not make sense.


Okay so I was a little upset with "Duets". I freaked out when Brittany and Santana were "making out" on the bed and was all happy then Santana had to go and screw it up then the writers decided to have Brittany be all sad with her unresolved storyline. Anyway, it seems crack monkey writers take over all my fav shows. Regardless, this takes place after "Duets" and has a few spoilers if you were totally blinded by the Britana goodness that was at the beginning. (Don't worry. I pressed rewind a couple times too.)

I don't own glee.

* * *

"Will, we have a problem," Ms. Pillsbury walked into Mr. Schue's classroom during lunch.

He looked up from his stack of papers and rises out of his chair, "What happened?"

"Brittany just came into my office and asked how long she has to stay in high school to become a waitress," Emma sat on one of the desks in front, crossing her arms, "And I give it a week that she figures out that we don't actually have a class here called waitressing."

Will furrowed his eyebrows, "What happened? Last week she was talking to Rachel about auditioning to Julliard together."

Emma shook her head, her red curls bouncing, "I don't know. She just said something about her mom and that she doesn't want to be here anymore."

The Spanish teacher frowned and turned to his desk, digging out a piece of paper. He showed it to Emma, "This is her quiz from yesterday."

Emma looked it over, "There's nothing on it."

"I know," he leaned back on his desk across from her, "This is bad. Last week she was doing really well. She was actually using words instead of pictures to answer the questions. And they were really close to the right words."

Emma sighed, "Maybe you could get her to express herself in glee. I mean it usually helps with all the other kids."

"Definitely," Will nodded, "Whatever you think is best."

"Do you mind if I sit in on practice? Maybe watch her interaction with the other kids," Emma offered, "Then I can take her back to my office and we can talk."

Mr. Schue nodded again, "Sounds good. I'll see you this afternoon."

Ms. Pillsbury got into the glee room early so she could watch everyone come in. She got some strange looks as they shuffled in, but for the most part they ignored her. Brittany was the last on in. She came in with her head down and her binder in her crossed arms.

As she walked in, Mr. Schue called her over to the piano. After some brief conferring, she nodded and walked into the office that housed the file cabinet that contained all their music. Will gave Emma a hopeful look. She returned it and stood up. After making sure Brittany was still in the office, she addressed the group. "Have any of you noticed a change in Brittany's behavior?"

There were a few nods, but the most blatant reactions came from Santana and Artie. Santana's head shot down and Artie's eyes grew wide.

Mr. Schue urged them on, "C'mon guys, we all know she's been acting a little down the past few days, but now she's talking about doing some drastic things that would impact the rest of her life. We're a family. We can't just watch her do that."

Quinn shrugged, "She's been really out of it, like more than usual. She won't talk to anyone very much."

"Yeah," Mercedes added, "She doesn't even try to do her work anymore and I think I saw her crying in the gym a few days ago."

Ms. Pillsbury's eyes moved to Santana who swallowed hard and seemed to feel the eyes on her. She tried to make eye contact and maybe guilt the Cheerio into giving everyone answer, but Santana refused to look at her.

"I found one," Brittany walked back in with a paper in her hand. Her movements were slow and her head was still tilted down. She trudged over to Brad and handed it over. She drug a stool across the ground and sat on it in the middle of the room. She didn't look up at any of the people in the group, "Just to let you guys know this is gonna be my last song here. I'm gonna figure out when the waitressing class is and I won't have time to come here anymore."

Will shot a panicked look at Emma who returned the look. Before either one could speak, Brittany nodded to Brad. He started playing and she took a deep breath.

Hands touch, eyes meet,  
sudden silence, sudden heat  
hearts leap in a giddy world.  
He could be that boy,  
but I'm not that girl  
Don't dream too far, don't lose sight of who you are,  
don't remember that rush of joy.  
He could be that boy,  
I'm not that girl

She finally raised her head enough for her eyes to catch the light. They were shimmering with unshed tears. She shook her head as she sang, gripping the stool under her as it would save her from the feelings she was holding back, if only she could hold on tight enough.

Every so often we long to steal,  
to the land of what might have been,  
but that doesn't soften the ache we feel  
when reality sets back in

Rachel blindly reached over and took Finn's hand. He looked over and saw that there were tears running down her face. She drew in a shaky breath and squeezed his hand. The sadness that was written all over Brittany's face made it's way into Rachel's chest and she couldn't stop herself from crying.

Emma looked at the group of kids and saw that one person didn't have their eyes glued to Brittany. While everyone else was completely enamored, Santana was glaring at the ground and clenching her jaw.

Blythe smile, lithe limb

she who's winsome,  
she wins him,  
gold hair with a gentle curl,  
that's the girl he chose  
and heaven knows,  
I'm not that girl  
don't wish, don't start  
wishing only wounds the heart,  
I wasn't born for the rose and the pearl,  
there's a girl I know,  
he loves her so,  
I'm not that girl.

When the song was over, Brittany sniffled and rose from her stool. She finally looked at her fellow gleeks, the looks she was receiving made her look back at the ground before she got to look at all of them. "Goodbye."

She clutched her binder to her chest and turned around, slowly making her way out of the room.

"Brittany wait," Rachel was the first one out of her chair, moving to Brittany's side. She glanced at the group and pulled the blonde by the hand out the door. When they were out in the hallway, "What's wrong?"

Brittany shook her head, "Nothing."

Rachel dipped down to catch the blue eyes that were usually so filled with light, "Why are you so sad? You can tell me. I promise not to tell anyone else."

Brittany looked around them as a group of football players came by. Most of them said hi to her and a few of them made some derogatory remarks. Brittany's gaze returned to the ground once they were gone.

"Did they do something to you?" Rachel asked.

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows at Rachel.

The diva elaborated, "Something that you didn't want them to."

Brittany shook her head, "No."

Rachel sighed, "Where do you go when you get sad at school?"

The blonde started moving and Rachel had to trot to catch up with her. They walked down a series of hallways before ending up in the gym. She followed Brittany to the collapsible bleachers on one side of the large room. Brittany crawled behind the bleachers and sat down on the ground under them. Rachel had to give it to her, this seemed like the only place in the school to get some privacy.

Rachel took Brittany's hand, "Now what's been bothering you?"

Mr. Schue stood in front of the group, "I'm going to go ahead and call practice today. From the looks of things we aren't going to be very productive anyway."

Everyone nodded and got up to leave, slowly gathering their things and processing what just happened. The group started to move en masse to the door, but before they could, Emma called, "Santana, Artie can I see you two for a moment?"

Santana froze in place, her back to Emma. The counselor could see Santana's shoulders rise and fall before her turned to her. Artie on the other hand hadn't really started to leave yet so he just sat in his chair a nervous look on his face.

"If there's anything either one of you know that might help us help Brittany," Emma focused mainly on Santana who's façade was starting to crack, "please let me or Mr. Schuester know. If we don't try to help, there's no telling how much longer she'll be at this school for us to help-"

Santana cut her off, "What do you mean at this school? Is she transferring?"

Emma looked at Will. He knew she wasn't supposed to tell, but figured that in this instance it was necessary to save one of his students. He looked at Santana, "She's talking about dropping out and becoming a waitress."

Santana's eyes finally gave her away as they widened and she breathed, "No way."

Emma nodded. "We really need to find a way to help her so if you can think of anything at all that would give us a clue as to why she would do this then please let us know."

Artie cleared his throat, "I um…I sort of yelled at her in the hallway. Well, not really yell, but firmly talked to her. She used me for my voice and I think I made her feel really bad about it. She apologized and everything, but now she won't even look at me."

"You asshole," Santana resisted the urge to hit him.

"You're the one that started it," Artie looked up at the Cheerio, "I thought you were her best friend and ratted her out."

"Is that true?" Mr. Schue asked Santana.

Santana shrugged, "Yeah, I guess."

"I thought we could have had something going until you told me what was going on," Artie looked at Mr. Schue, "Although I didn't really give Brittany the chance to verify what Santana said…." He trailed off. "Did you lie to break us up?"

Santana crossed her arms, "I didn't really lie…I just exaggerated a little bit."

"What about that guy you stopped in the cafeteria?" Artie narrowed his eyes.

"I gave him five bucks to say what he did. So what?" Santana's façade was back up in full force.

Artie shook his head, "I have to find her and apologize." He wheeled himself out the door.

Emma and Will's eyes went to Santana, who was the only person left. Santana slung her bag over her shoulder, "What?"

"Do you think Brittany's really over upset over Artie?" Emma's asked gently.

"Hell no," Santana shook her head and started to walk out the door.

"Can you come talk to me in my office?" Emma asked.

Santana didn't even turn around when she replied with a, "Nope."

Mr. Schue looked at Emma who was giving him a look that said _do something_. He did the only thing he could think of, "Don't forget about your detention."

Santana whirled around, "My what?"

"Detention," he said, "For texting in class. I told you about it earlier."

She thought for a moment before figuring that he may have told her while she was texting and didn't hear him. "Fine. I'll be in your classroom." She turned around in a huff and stalked out.

Rachel watched Brittany sit stationary until the bleachers. She blonde hadn't spoken since they moved to the more private area. Rachel finally asked, "Is this about a boy?"

Brittany shook her head, her ponytail swaying. Her eyes traveled to the underside of one of the seats in the bleachers. Rachel followed her eyes and saw something scraped into the plastic just a few inches away from her. When she leaned forward she got a better look at it while Brittany ran her fingers over it. BS + SL 4eva

It finally dawned on Rachel what it must be. "Is this about Santana?"

Brittany quickly averted her eyes giving Rachel the answer.

Rachel scooted closer to Brittany and took the blonde's hand. "You love her don't you? More than friends."

Tears sprang to Brittany's eyes. She tried to hold them in, but this time she lost.

"Have you told her?" Rachel asked quietly, dreading that Brittany had and Santana had been her usual insensitive self.

Brittany shook her head, "But I know she doesn't love me…." She sniffled, "I'm not good enough for her."

"Wha- how do you know that?" Rachel pulled Brittany so that she was leaning on her.

The blonde finally broke out in a sob, "Because Artie is right. I'm just a slut. I'm not smart or good at anything…." A look of resolve took over her face, "So I'm going to do what my mom did and be a waitress."

Rachel thought really hard. She didn't know Brittany's mom was a waitress and that didn't make sense with the fact that Brittany lived in one of the nicer neighborhoods in town. Regardless, Rachel hugged Brittany, "You're not just a slut. You're a beautiful girl and an amazing dancer. I've never seen anyone that can move like you."

Brittany closed her eyes and then buried her face in Rachel's neck remembering how Santana told her that she was just a way to satisfy herself while Puck was in jail. She clung to Rachel wanting that memory to go away, but it had been replaying in her mind, alternating with her 'break up' with Artie since that day.

Rachel's phone buzzed in her pocket. She left one arm around Brittany, but pulled one back to take it out. She found a text from Finn telling her that Mr. Schue was looking for both of them. She glanced at the blonde, knowing that she probably didn't want Mr. Schue or Ms. Pillsbury to know about her secret hiding place.

"Mr. Schue is looking for us," she murmured into Brittany's hair. "We should probably go see what he wants. Then afterwards you can come over to my house if you want."

Brittany wiped her eyes and sat up, "Okay."

Rachel crawled out and helped Brittany to her feet before holding her hand on the way out, offering all her support.

Santana had her head on the desk facing away from the door, listening to music. Detention was stupid, but at least she got some time alone to think. After her song was over, she lifted her head so she could see her iPod to pick a new jam. When she looked up she saw that there was someone else in the room with her. Brittany was sitting at the front of the room staring at the blank chalkboard.

Before her brain could register she was talking, Santana asked, "What are you doing here?"

Brittany slowly turned around, "I got detention for not answering any of the questions on my test."

"That's bullshit," Santana rolled her eyes and stood up.

The blonde shrugged, "I didn't."

Santana furrowed her eyebrows, "You didn't? But you know the answers."

"It doesn't seem important now that I'm going to be a waitress," Brittany didn't look up. She just looked at her nails and then at Santana's shoes.

Santana sank into the chair next to Brittany, "What made you want to be a waitress?"

Brittany bit her lip, "I don't want to tell you."

Santana's heart broke at the weakness and sadness in Brittany's voice. She clenched her jaw and reigned in her emotions before asking, "Why not?"

"You'll get mad at me again," Brittany turned back to the front of the classroom.

"Again?" Santana looked at her.

Brittany was silent.

"B, what are you talking about?"

Brittany sighed, "Last week when we were making out and you said you'd rather be with Puck."

"I never said that," Santana shook her head.

"You said you were only with me because Puck's in jail," Brittany lowered her voice, "And that you're not in love with me and you don't wanna sing a duet with me." She stood up and walked out of the room.

Santana walked back to her seat and picked up her bag before running after Brittany. When she got outside all she found was Rachel and Finn.

"Where'd Brittany go?" she asked them.

"She's in Ms. Pillsbury's office," Rachel replied. She looked at Santana, "I'm taking her home with me after that."

"The hell you are," Santana gave Rachel a disgusted look.

"You hurt her," Rachel matched Santana's look, "There's no way I'm letting her go home with you."

Santana was stunned by the attack, "What do you mean I hurt her?"

Rachel grabbed Santana's hand was surprised when the Cheerio didn't yank it away as she pulled her into the gym. Rachel crawled behind the bleachers.

"How did you know about this place?" Santana asked following her.

"Brittany brought me here," Rachel explained and sat down in the cramped space. She looked at Santana, "She told me how Artie yelled at her made her feel like a slut and how she's not going to amount to anything so she's going to become a waitress like her mother."

Santana shook her head, "Her mom sucks that's why she only sees her mom twice a month. Why would she want to be like that?"

"Because she doesn't feel like she's worth anything," Rachel explained. She pointed to the carving the bleachers, "She looked at that right there and told me that you don't love her because that she's not worthy of your love."

Tears jumped into Santana's eyes, "What-why would she…" Then she realized why Brittany thought that. She felt like she'd just been punched in the stomach. She leaned back against the gym wall and let her head fall back against it. "I'm so stupid."

"Can't disagree there," Rachel crawled out from under the bleachers.

"Watch it Berry," Santana followed her out.

Rachel stopped in front of the gym door and kept Santana from leaving, "I'm still taking her home with me."

"Yeah right," Santana rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious," Rachel explained, "I think you should think about what you're going to say to her before you blurt something out that you don't mean." She paused and watched the wheels turn behind Santana's eyes, "She already wants to quit school and wait tables. If you hurt her more than you already have she may actually go through with it."

Santana glanced out the window behind Rachel and saw a case full of gleaming Cheerio trophies. She sighed, "Fine, but have her in the glee room first thing in the morning."

Rachel nodded, "Okay." She looked Santana over once before slipping out the door, leaving Santana to herself in the gym.

"What did you talk to Ms. Pillsbury about?" Rachel asked quietly as they sat in her room on the bed.

Brittany shrugged, "She said that I should stay in school."

"I agree with her," Rachel offered a hopeful smile, "School can be fun and all your friends are here. The glee club needs you too. Plus, you can't go to Julliard without graduating."

Brittany laid back on the bed. "I don't think I can get into Julliard."

"Of course you can," Rachel replied, "You're the best dancer I've ever seen and I've been to Broadway every summer since I was old enough to say Barbara. You're amazing."

"Really?" the blonde asked propping herself up on her elbows.

"Oh yeah," Rachel smiled. She walked over to her desk and picked up her calendar and a photo album, "My dads always ask if I have a friend I want to take with me to Broadway in the summer. I haven't really had any friends I wanted to take before. Do you want to go with me? It's not until June, but I like to plan ahead."

Brittany picked up the photo album and started looking through it, "Are all these people dancers?"

Rachel looked over her shoulder and nodded. "Oh yeah. The one on the left is actually from Dayton."

"No way," Brittany smiled when she saw some of the other dancers Rachel had her picture taken with outside many backstage doors.

Rachel grinned at the sight of Brittany's smile. It was a welcome sight after the depressed girl that had been silent and smile-less for a week.

Rachel managed to steer the conversation away from anything related to Santana or their actual school. At dinner, she and her dads recounted their stories of summer in New York City and how much Brittany would love it.

Brittany walked into school the next day with a new pep in her step. That is until she saw Artie roll past her. He didn't really notice her, but he was impossible to miss. Rachel sighed and pulled Brittany into the glee room, hoping Brittany wasn't slipping back into her funk.

When they got to the glee room everyone else with there with the exception of Santana. There were two stools in the middle of the room. Mr. Schue was standing by the piano and waited for everyone to get settled before saying, "We have a very special song this morning and I thank you all for coming in early before you classes to hear it." He stepped to the side and the band took their places.

Santana walked into the room, shaking out her hands. She was obviously nervous and didn't look up at anyone as she walked. Instead she sat on one of the stool, facing the other one and took a deep breath. She nodded to the band and stared hard at the chair.

Come to my window  
Crawl inside, wait by the light  
of the moon  
Come to my window  
I'll be home soon

Brittany's mouth dropped open. She heard what Santana was singing, but she wasn't sure she believed it. Santana was singing the song she suggested earlier. She was trying to process everything when Rachel nudged her arm. She looked over and Rachel gestured to the empty stool.

I would dial the numbers  
Just to listen to your breath  
I would stand inside my hell  
And hold the hand of death  
You don't know how far I'd go  
To ease this precious ache  
You don't know how much I'd give  
Or how much I can take

The blonde Cheerio stood from her seat and walked to the stool, easily sliding onto it. When she finally looked at Santana, Brittany started singing a long with her. Santana's shoulders relaxed and she let out a smile.

Just to reach you  
Just to reach you  
Just to reach you

Come to my window  
Crawl inside, wait by the light  
of the moon  
Come to my window  
I'll be home soon

Keeping my eyes open  
I cannot afford to sleep  
Giving away promises  
I know that I can't keep  
Nothing fills the blackness  
That has seeped into my chest  
I need you in my blood  
I am forsaking all the rest  
Just to reach you  
Just to reach you  
Oh to reach you

Rachel grinned and leaned into Finn. It looked like she was definitely going to have someone to go to Julliard with.

Surprisingly, Quinn wasn't thinking of using this little display against Santana. She thought it was sweet and looked over at Sam who was smiling back at her.

Come to my window  
Crawl inside, wait by the light  
of the moon  
Come to my window  
I'll be home soon

I don't care what they think  
I don't care what they say  
What do they know about this  
love anyway

Come to my window  
Crawl inside, wait by the light  
of the moon  
Come to my window  
I'll be home soon

When the song was over, Santana slid off of her stool and took the two steps it took to get to Brittany. She wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist and reveled in the warm, safe feeling that consumed her the second she touched Brittany. "I'm so sorry."

Brittany smiled and hugged Santana back. "It's okay."

"I, um…have something to tell you that I can't say here," Santana whispered, "But we can go to my house. My parents are at work."

"Okay," Brittany nodded when Santana pulled away.

"That was hot!" Puck called from the door, "Do it again."

Santana shot up straight and looked at him, "What are you doing here?"

He smirked, "Just got out of the pen. My mom hired that lawyer off of TV and I don't have to go back to court until next year." He opened his arms, "What do you say we get out of here?"

Santana's eyes went to Brittany's whose head dropped as she slunk to the empty chair next to Rachel to retrieve her bag. When it was over her shoulder, she started walking toward the door.

"God you so are dense!" Rachel yelled at Santana before following Brittany out the door. Once out in the hallway, Rachel caught up with Brittany. "Hold on."

Brittany stopped and turned to look at Rachel, but she didn't look sad like Rachel expected. She looked livid.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving," Brittany stated, "I can't- I..."

The door opening in the glee room brought Brittany out of her thoughts. She looked over and saw Santana walking out with Puck behind her. Brittany set her jaw and marched right up to them. Santana looked expectantly at her, but instead Brittany looked at Puck. After a few seconds, she hauled off and punched him in the stomach.

"What the fuck!" Puck yelled and doubled over, "What the hell Brittany?"

Brittany looked from Puck to Santana before stalking off down the hallway.

"Brittany," Santana ran to catch up with her. She threw her arms around Brittany's shoulders and laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" Brittany asked, confused and pulling away, "I just punched your boyfriend."

Santana shook her head, "He's not my boyfriend." She took Brittany's hand, "C'mon let's go back to my house."

Once in Santana's car she practically jumped over into Brittany's lap, attacking Brittany's lips with her own. When she trailed down Brittany's neck, the blonde giggled and asked, "What's that for?"

"You punching Puck because you were jealous was so hot," Santana grinned against Brittany's neck. She reached down next to the seat and pulled the leaver to recline the seat. They both flew back and were almost in a laying position.

"Oh. My. God," Santana rested her head on Brittany's shoulder, "That was awesome."

"Yeah," Brittany grinned, "We didn't even get out clothes off."

Santana sat up and looked around, "Let's go to my house and get something to eat." She slid into the driver's seat and started the car.

When they got into Santana's house, they got some leftover pizza and sat it on the couch, while watching TV.

After a while Brittany looked over at Santana, "What did you want to tell me earlier?"

"Hmm?" Santana asked, chewing her pizza.

"You said after the song that you had something to tell me when we got here," Brittany stated.

"Oh yeah," Santana put the rest of the pizza down and turned to face Brittany on the couch. She muted the TV and took Brittany's hands.

After a few seconds of silence, Brittany asked, "San?"

"I'm just trying to think of the right words," Santana sighed. She let out a small smile, "I guess there's only one way to say it." She stood up and walked over to the stereo. She plugged in her iPod and turned on a song.

She walked over to Brittany offered her best friend her hand. "Dance with me?"

Brittany smiled and took it, letting Santana pull her up. Santana wrapped an arm around Brittany's waist and held Brittany's hand between them. They didn't really dance much. They just sort of swayed while Santana sang.

I've never been in love before  
Now all at once its you  
Its you forever more...

I've never been in love before  
I thought my heart was safe  
I thought I knew the score

But this is wine that's all too strange and strong  
I'm full of foolish song  
And now my song must pour  
So please forgive this helpless haze I'm in  
I've really never been in love before.

But this is wine that's all too strange and strong  
I'm full of foolish song  
And now my song must pour  
So please forgive this helpless haze I'm in  
I've really never been in love before.

When the song was over, Santana leaned forward and rested her face on Brittany's. "I love you."

"I love you too," Brittany grinned and pulled away enough to properly kiss Santana.

"I'm sorry," Santana sighed, "I guess I didn't want to believe it. This isn't the best town to be in love with your best friend in." She looked Brittany dead in the eyes, "And I'm so sorry I made you feel bad about yourself. You're beautiful and talented and when we graduate I will follow you anywhere."

Brittany hugged Santana tight and closed her eyes, "It's okay. I was scared too, but it's okay now."

Santana nodded, "Yeah. It's all okay now."


End file.
